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“Hello gorgeous,” I smile as my daughter shuffles into the room, clad in her pink pyjamas and her white, fluffy dressing gown. “How are you feeling, Emmy?,” I mumble as she climbs onto the bed with me and gently, I wipe some of her curls out of her pale face. “Tired,” she sighs and buries herself under the thick, heavy duvet. “And my throat hurts and my nose is sore,” she adds, looking up at me with her bright grey eyes. Carefully, I press a kiss onto her forehead. “I’m sorry sweetheart,” I mumble against her skin and pull her closer to myself, placing the script I’ve been reading on the bedside table next to me.
I look up as Ben enters the bedroom as well, also in his blue pyjamas and matching dressing gown, his nose red and a thick scarf around his throat. “Come here, darling, we’re having a get-well-cuddle session,” I smile at him and he climbs on the bed to slip under the duvet on my other side. “Can we watch a film, Daddy?,” he asks quietly, snuggling up to me and I kiss him on the head. “Sure, why not. Why don’t you decide on what to watch and I go and make another round of tea, eh?,” I suggest and carefully get up while my children crawl over to the TV cabinet at the foot of my bed.
Adding three mugs of hot chocolate and marshmallows on top to the tray downstairs, I slowly go back up to my bedroom, the scent of the fresh peppermint tea in the union jack teapot wafting up to my nose. I smile as I think of all the days when I was young and ill and my mum would make me tea and read me stories to make me feel better. So much time had passed since then.
“There we go,” I mumble, placing the hot drinks within my children’s reach before I climb back into bed with them. “So, what are we watching?,” I ask, smiling, and Emiliana grins widely. “It’s the 1st of September, Daddy! We’re going back to Hogwarts,” she exclaims proudly and I laugh. “That sounds like a marvellous idea. But only, if I can have an owl as a pet.” I try to pout while my children simply laugh as Ben presses play on the remote. “You can have an owl if I can have a cat,” my daughter tries to negotiate and her brother quickly adds, “And I want to have a rat. And I’ll call it Harry.”
I watch them lovingly as the story unfolds in front of us, both of my children practicing their spells with their imaginary wands, their running noses and sore throats quickly forgotten. Outside, the lovely Indian summer has obviously decided to turn into an early British winter and rain pelts from the dark grey sky against the windows of our house.
The sudden screeching of Emiliana and Benjamin makes me jump a little and I focus back on the TV to see what all the excitement is about only to be faced with the giant three-headed dog guarding the trapdoor and barking loudly into Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s face. I laugh quietly and pat my children’s hair, breathing a kiss onto both of them before they both snuggle closer to me, their heads now resting on my chest.
***
“I think I feel better now,” Ben exclaims as the credits roll. “Can we watch another one?,” he asks and looks at me with hopeful eyes before a loud sneeze shakes him and reminds me of why we had been spending the day at home in the first place. “I think, my lovely children, that it’s time for dinner now and then you’re both having an early night so that you feel better tomorrow,” I answer with a smile, earning a sad pout from my twins. “No, you won’t convince me otherwise,” I laugh and shake my head ere I get up, retrieving the now empty tea and hot chocolate mugs from the bedside tables.
“Come on, let’s get some dinner into our empty stomachs,” I add with a wink and walk downstairs, my children shuffling down the stairs behind me, still a pout on their faces and a tiny hopeful glint in their eyes that they might yet be able to convince me. Dinner in the form of Baked Beanz on Toast is a quiet affair and afterwards they obediently trot back upstairs to brush their teeth. Then it’s quiet in the house. Too quiet, for my taste, as they have not yet said goodnight to me.
“Emmy? Ben?,” I call upstairs, without reply. Slowly, I walk up, step by step, listening for any sound from my children but hear none. “Emiliana? Benjamin? Where are you? Come on, no games, it’s time for bed!,” I try again but again I’m met with silence. Passing my son’s bedroom first, I peer inside only to find it empty and dark. Emiliana’s room, one flight of stairs up, is in a similar state and, glancing up onto the top floor, I hope they’re not hiding in Paula’s bedroom as she is away for the weekend and the au pair’s bedroom is strictly out of bounds.
Slowly, I tiptoe towards my bedroom and peep inside. There my children are lying in my bed, their duvets and pillows neatly placed next to mine, their dark curls forming a stark contrast to the white sheets underneath them. The DVD menu of the second Harry Potter film is silently flickering on the TV screen at the foot of the bed, the matching remote control lying on my pillow, while my son and daughter look up at me with hopeful eyes. “We’ve brushed our teeth very nicely, Daddy, and we’ve made your bed so you can join us straightaway and your pyjamas are already in the bathroom and there’s toothpaste on your toothbrush as well so you can be with us quicker and we promise we’ll sleep straightaway after the film and we won’t be grumpy in the morning,” Emiliana rattles down while her brother nods quickly in support.
I simply look at them for a moment, having trouble to suppress my grin, ere I leave the room without a word and get ready for bed in the bathroom. My flannel pants are neatly folded on top of the laundry basket and my toothbrush does indeed have a load of toothpaste on it already. With a smile, I finish my chores and turn off the lights around the house. As I walk back into my room, my children have not moved, the TV is still muted and the remote control is still lying on top of my pillow.
“How can I say no to my two little angels, hm?,” I smile and climb into bed with them, starting the film and holding my children close to me.“Thank you, Daddy,” they both mumble, pressing a soft but a little sloppy kiss onto my cheeks, making me the happiest father in the world as we go back to Hogwarts once more today.